there is a $10 suggested donation (no one is turned away for lack of funds)

“Sankirtan yoga or the yoga of singing the Lord’s names is within the reach of all. ..

There is infinite Shakti in the Lord’s names. Kirtan removes the impurities of the mind, steadies it and checks its tendencies to vacilate…Kirtan will enable you to realise the infinite here and now . . .

All persons of this world are Kirtanists. Even the breeze, trees, brooks, ocean-waves, burning fire, churning of curd, grinding of grinding stones, the beetles and the whistling of the engine sing Hari Om…”

Come join us for your first chanting experience or renew your connection to spirit with this powerful practice of Kirtan.

You don’t need to know about mantras or understand sanskrit. You don’t need to be a singer or even be able to carry a tune. Just bring your open mind to Mind In Body on Friday May 11,2012 and allow the simple melodies, Mike’s skillfull hands on the conga, the peaceful drone of Rick’s harmonium and the pleasant vibrations of the ancient chants to open your heart and bring you back to center.

8pm Mind In Body
2313 W. Olive Ave., Burbank, CA 91506

Rick’s Annual Birthday KirtanCome join us for your first chanting experience or renew your connection to spirit with this powerful practice of Kirtan.

You don’t need to know about mantras or understand sanskrit. You don’t need to be a singer or even be able to carry a tune. Just bring your open mind to Mind In Body on Friday May 11,2012 and allow the simple melodies, Mike’s skillfull hands on the conga, the peaceful drone of Rick’s harmonium and the pleasant vibrations of the ancient chants to open your heart and bring you back to center.

He knows bliss in the Atman
And wants nothing else.
Cravings torment the heart:
He renounces cravings.
I call him illumined.

Not shaken by adversity,
Not hankering after happiness:
Free from fear, free from anger,
Free from the things of desire.
I call him a seer, and illumined.

The bonds of his flesh are broken.
He is lucky, and does not rejoice:
He is unlucky, and does not weep.
I call him illumined.

The tortoise can draw in its legs:
The seer can draw in his senses.
I call him illumined.

The abstinent run away from what they desire
But carry their desires with them:
When a man enters Reality,
He leaves his desires behind him.

Even a mind that knows the path
Can be dragged from the path:
The senses are so unruly.
But he controls the senses
And recollects the mind
And fixes it on me.
I call him illumined.

Thinking about sense-objects
Will attach you to sense-objects;
Grow attached, and you become addicted;
Thwart your addiction, it turns to anger;
Be angry, and you confuse your mind;
Confuse your mind, you forget the lesson of experience;
Forget experience, you lose discrimination;
Lose discrimination, and you miss life’s only purpose.

When he has no lust, no hatred,
A man walks safely among the things of lust and hatred.
To obey the Atman
Is his peaceful joy;
Sorrow melts
Into that clear peace:
His quiet mind
Is soon established in peace.

The uncontrolled mind
Does not guess that the Atman is present:
How can it meditate?
Without meditation, where is peace?
Without peace, where is happiness?

The wind turns a ship
From its course upon the waters:
The wandering winds of the senses
Cast man’s mind adrift
And turn his better judgment from its course.

When a man can still the senses
I call him illumined.
The recollected mind is awake
In the knowledge of the Atman
Which is dark night to the ignorant:
The ignorant are awake in their sense-life
Which they think is daylight:
To the seer it is darkness.

Water flows continually into the ocean
But the ocean is never disturbed:
Desire flows into the mind of the seer
But he is never disturbed.

The seer knows peace:
The man who stirs up his own lusts
Can never know peace.
He knows peace who has forgotten desire.
He lives without craving:
Free from ego, free from pride.

This is the state of enlightenment in Brahman:
A man does not fall back from it
Into delusion.
Even at the moment of death
He is alive in that enlightenment:
Brahman and he are one.

Molly Hagan, the owner of Mind in Body in Burbank was interviewed by Joni Yung for her Yoga Chat with the Accidental Yogist podcast and she talked about our Monthly Kirtans (about 53 minutes in). She had some very kind words . . . check it out . . .

Join Rick Colella and Michael Wachs as they guide us in a devotional practice that leads us back to self and opens our hearts. Because they gift us with their heartfelt artistry, we suggest a $10 donation. But no one will be turned away for lack of funds

Join Rick Colella and Michael Wachs as they lead us in a devotional practice that leads us right back to ourselves and opens our hearts. Because they gift us with their heartfelt artistry, we suggest a $10 donation. But no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Here’s what Molly Hagan . ..owner of Mind in Body had to say about our Kirtans :

We are welcoming back Rick Colella and Michael Wachs on Friday night, August 26, 8-10. The last two Kirtans were healing and transporting experiences and everyone wants more.

Rick and Michael created for the attendees a communal vibrational high. I don’t know how else to describe it. Afterwards, each person commented on how great it felt. It didn’t matter if we knew the words, it didn’t matter if we mispronounced them, it didn’t matter if we just hummed along, it didn’t matter if we just sat there and had the sound wash over us, each of us felt uplifted and moved.

Kirtan is a musical prayer; rhythmic call and response chanting that can kindle a joyful mood and can lead to profound states of meditation.

But the only way to really know Kirtan is to come and experience it. We are all beginners, there is no judgment. Come and sit, come and sing, come and dance. Or come and sit, then maybe hum, then sing, then get up and sing and dance. You needn’t be a Hindu, believe in any specific religion, or follow any path. Just come – open your heart, mind and body – and be embraced by this experience that can sweep you away and sweep you into self.

These musicians are joyfully giving us a tremendous gift, a $10 donation is suggested. But no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Please invite your friends, forward and share this. Kirtan truly is “the more the merrier,” or dare I say it… the greater the vibrational high?

Peace and health,
Molly Hagan
Mind in Body

Save the date for Kirtan with Rick and Mike Wachs coming in September:
**Saturday September 17, 2011**
Kirtan with Rick Colella and Mike Wachs
7:30-9:30pm

“There is no virtue higher than Love, there is no treasure higher than Love, there is no knowledge higher than Love, there is no Dharma higher than Love, there is no religion higher than Love because Love is Truth, Love is God. This world has come out of Love, this world exists in Love and this world ultimately dissolves in Love. God is an embodiment of Love. In every inch of His creation you can verily understand His Love.” Swami Sivananda

Some of the beautiful chanters at Mind in Body asked me to post some transliterations and meanings of the chants – – -So here’s a beginning …

Ganesha = the elephant-headed god; son of Shiva and Parvati.The name Ganesha consists of: “gana” + “isha”.“Gana” means troops or multitudinous spiritual attendants of Shiva.“Isha” = “Lord”.Therefore Ganesha is the “Lord of the troops”. Ganesha is the remover of obstacles and is invoked at the beginning of any endeavor. He alsorepresents the earth element, the root, which needs to be solid before wecan proceed.Sharanam = refuge, protectionGan Gan = These are parts of the “bija” , or seed mantra of Ganesh; they are his core sounds and don’t carry discursive meaning. Bija mantras are said to contain the essence of the diety. Ganapati = another name of Ganesha. “Gana” means “troops” and “Pati” means Lord or protector. So “Ganapati” and “Ganesha” really mean the same thing, “Lord of the troops”. Jai Uttal

One definition of the “guru principle” is the universal power of grace present as the inner Self of all beings.

The sound Gu means darkness. The sound Ru means, light.
It’s a coming together of opposites – –
Like Ha – which means Sun and Tha which means Moon
of Hatha Yoga

One Translation – –

I prostrate to that Sri Guru, who is himself
Brahma, Vishnu and God Maheshwara, and who is verily
the Supreme Absolute Itself.

Another Translation:
Guru is Brahma (The creative principle of the universe), Guru is Vishnu (The sustaining or preserving principle of the universe), Guru is Lord Maheshwara (Another name for Shiva, the Destroyer or Dissolver of Illusion). Guru is verily the supreme reality. Sublime prostrations to Him.

“Kirtan removes at once impurities of the heart, tossing of mind, and the veil of ignorance without much prolonged effort. That is the beauty of Kirtan. That is the marvellous benefit of Kirtan.

For some wise persons Kirtan is the only Sadhana (spiritual practice) … All persons of this world are Kirtanists. Even the breeze, trees, brooks, ocean-waves, burning fire, churning of curd, grinding of grinding stones, the beetles and the whistling of the engine sing Hari Om…” – Swami Sivananda

“Fix the mind on the form of Lord Hari or Lord Siva or Lord Krishna or any saint like Lord Buddha or Lord Jesus. Again and again try to call this mental image of the picture. All thoughts will die. This is another method, the method of Bhaktas.” – Swami Sivananda

Join Rick Colella and Michael Wachs for Kirtan next month at Mind in Body
(date TBA)

Join us on Friday night, July 22 from 8 – 10, when Rick Colella and his percussionist Michael Wachs come back to Mind In Body to lead us through Kirtan.

Last month, Rick and Michael created for the attendees a communal vibrational high. I don’t know how else to describe it. Afterwards, each person commented on how great it felt. It didn’t matter if we knew the words, it didn’t matter if we mispronounced them, it didn’t matter if we just hummed along, it didn’t matter if we just sat there and had the sound wash over us, each of us felt uplifted and moved.

Kirtan is a musical prayer; rhythmic call and response chanting that can kindle a joyful mood and can lead to profound states of meditation.

But the only way to really know Kirtan is to come and experience it. We are all beginners, there is no judgement. Come and sit, come and sing, come and dance. Or come and sit, then maybe hum, then sing, then get up and sing and dance. You needn’t be a Hindu, believe in any specific religion, or follow any path. Just come – open your heart, mind and body – and be embraced by this experience that can sweep you away and sweep you into self.

Please read the article below or go to the quick links for more information on Kirtan.

These musicians are joyfully giving us tremendous gift, a $10 donation is suggested. But no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Please invite your friends and forward this email. Kirtan truly is “the more the merrier,” or dare I say it… the greater the vibrational high?

Peace and health,

Molly Hagan

Mind in Body

Ram Dass about Kirtan from Be Here Now:

“Song, dance, chanting and prayer have been throughout the ages traditional forms of bhakti yoga. At first such rituals are a matter of curiosity, and you are the observer. Then you arrive at the stage of peripheral participation-a “sing along.” Then in time you become familiar with the routines and you start to identify with the process. As your identification deepens, other thoughts and evaluations fall away until finally you and the ritual become one. At that point the ritual has become the living process and can take you through the door into perfect unity. To know that these stages exist does not mean you can jump ahead of where you are. Whatever stage you are in, accept it. When you have fully accepted your present degree of participation, only then will you experience the next level.

Singing and music: Most familiar to us is the use of a song to open the heart. Hymns such as Holy, Holy, Holy . . .Amazing Grace-have touched the hearts of millions with the spirit. In India, bhajan (the singing of holy songs) has been until recent times practically the only social function in the villages. Evenings, the men gather, squatting or sitting on the ground in a circle with their chillums (pipes) and a harmonium, a set of tabla (drums), perhaps a serangi or violin (stringed instruments) and cymbals . . . and they take turns singing the stories of the holy beings such as Krishna and Ram. Night after night they participate in this simple pastime, keeping themselves close to the Spirit.

It is often startling to the Westerner to realize that it is not the beauty of the voice but the purity of spirit of the singer that is revered by these people. It was only when music was profaned that it became a vehicle for gratification of the senses. Prior to that, it was a method of communion with the Spirit.

A special form of bhajan is called kirtan . . .which is the repetition in song of the Holy Names of God.

The melody of kirtan is usually basically simple and it is only after many repetitions that the process of coming into the spirit starts to happen. Singing the same phrases over for two to five hours is not unusual for the true seeker. And you will find as you let yourself into the repetitive rhythm and melody that you experience level after level of opening.”

Mind In Body is committed to creating a safe environment for growth. Every teacher at Mind In Body deeply respects and honors a person’s individual journey and the developmental steps that are involved. We invite you to come in and listen to your body, your breath, and your needs so you may focus on the care and growth of self.

Om Mani Padme Hum (sacred in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism) is a Sanskrit Mantra which means “Hail to the Jewel in the Lotus”

The “Jewel in the Lotus” is a metaphor for Insight, Wisdom, or Spiritual Enlightenment

“…the six syllables, Om Mani Padme Hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha”

– H.H. Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

Join us next Friday at MIND IN BODY in BURBANK

Friday, June 24 8-10pm

Mind in Body2313 West Olive AvenueBurbank, CA 91506(818) 694-3507

Info by Coordinator Molly Hagan – Join us on Friday night, June 24 from 8 -10, when Yoga Mind In Body hosts Rick Colella and percussionist Michael Wachs as they lead us through Kirtan.

Molly says “What is Kirtan? Kirtan is Devotional chanting; musical prayer. It is a rhythmic call and response chanting that can kindle a joyful mood and can lead to profound states of meditation.

My own limited experience has been ecstatic and mesmerizing. It is like a musical meditation that begs your participation. However, you may come and simply sit, absorb and enjoy. Or you may come, sing and move. You needn’t be familiar with the words that are being chanted. You needn’t be familiar with the simple melodies. You needn’t be a Hindu, believe in any specific religion, or follow any path. Just come – open your heart, mind and body – and be embraced by this experience that can sweep you away and sweep you into self.

A $5-$10 donation is suggested but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.”